Michigan OKs Nestlé Water Extraction, Despite Public Comments Against It

Re:Michigan OKs Nestlé Water Extraction, Despite Public Comm... by sykh on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @05:33PM (#16759367)

I don't know the particulars in this case but is Nestlé going to pay proper amount for this water? If the public doesn't want the plant then shouldn't their desires carry some weight? Especially since it doesn't appear that Nestlé would be providing a service in the interests of society at large.

Overall there is a growing sense in the U.S. that public assets are being sold off at below market rates. That corporate interests trump public interests. There's a lack of trust in the system. The overreaction, as you put it, here seems to me to be a symptom of what I think is a growing lack of trust in the system.

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Re:Michigan OKs Nestlé Water Extraction, Despite Public Comm... by rmason on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @06:47PM (#16760023)

Nestle is paying $5200 for all the water it is drawing. I'd be willing to wager they're paying 10-20x that on lobbying efforts.

https://www.bridgemi.com/guest-commentary/opinion-nestle-wat...

The county they're in has high unemployment and they make the case that it's all about the jobs they're creating.

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Re:Michigan OKs Nestlé Water Extraction, Despite Public Comm... by nrdgrl on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @06:49PM (#16760043)

That is the permit application fee (one time, $5,000) and reporting costs ($200 / year). They aren't paying for the water.

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Re:Michigan OKs Nestlé Water Extraction, Despite Public Comm... by Turing_Machine on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @09:51PM (#16761128)

Detroit is currently selling water for $23/thousand cubic feet, or about .000321/gallon. That's filtered, treated, and distributed to a tap in every home.

What do you imagine a fair price would be for untreated, pump-it-yourself groundwater?

http://www.detroitmi.gov/Portals/0/docs/DWSD/Water%20Rate%20...

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Re:Michigan OKs Nestlé Water Extraction, Despite Public Comm... by toomanybeersies on Thursday April 05, 2018 @12:36AM (#16761802)

When you pay for residential water, you're not actually paying for the water. You're paying infrastructure costs, the cost of running the pumping station and repairing the pipes to your house.

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Re:Michigan OKs Nestlé Water Extraction, Despite Public Comm... by nrdgrl on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @05:57PM (#16759602)

> I don't know the particulars in this case but is Nestlé going to pay proper amount for this water?

This is just a permit to draw water from a well, not a municipal drinking water supply. I suspect that (other than the permit fee) they aren't paying anything for the water. (I had a look at the permit & didn't see anything there about payments).

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Re:Michigan OKs Nestlé Water Extraction, Despite Public Comm... by Turing_Machine on Wednesday April 04, 2018 @05:37PM (#16759408)

> I don't know the particulars in this case but is Nestlé going to pay proper amount for this water?

I suspect the value of untreated groundwater in Michigan is very, very small.

> there doesn't appear that Nestlé would be providing a service in the interests of society at large.

What about jobs? What about the people who want to buy bottled water? Why don't the workers and consumers count as "society at large"?

Note: I personally think most people who buy bottled water are foolish (unless the local tap water is unsafe or unpalatable), but then people do a lot of things I think are foolish.

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